Longtime anchor/reporter Barbara West leaving WFTV

She logged 24 years at station as anchor and health reporter

After 24 years on the air at WFTV-Channel 9, anchor-reporter Barbara West's final day at the station will be Dec. 29.

News director Bob Jordan said West and the station "had reached the decision mutually" on her departure. She did not return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday.

"She's an excellent communicator," Jordan said. "That's a very tall bar. I've worked with a lot of anchors around the country. She's one of the best."

Added General Manager Shawn Bartelt: "I think Barbara has had a long and distinguished career at WFTV."

West, 62, had been the anchor at 5:30 p.m. for many years, until WFTV replaced her in September with Vanessa Welch.

Greg Warmoth will replace West on the noon telecast and share anchoring duties with Vanessa Echols.

West is WFTV's health reporter, and she covered everything from diet drugs to the 10th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine. She received an Emmy for her reporting on women fighting breast cancer.

But a series of West's reports infuriated Dr. Thomas Trevisani, a Winter Park plastic surgeon who sued the ABC affiliate and West in 2006 for defamation. In January, Bartelt said WFTV "chose to settle to avoid the cost, the time and the distraction of the litigation." The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

West made her biggest impression during the 2008 presidential campaign when she interviewed then- Sen. Joe Biden, Barack Obama's running mate, via satellite.

West quoted Karl Marx and then asked Biden, "How is Senator Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?"

"Are you joking?" Biden asked.

"No," West replied.

The interview became an Internet sensation, with viewers describing it as either the best or worst interview they had ever seen.

"People tend to look at that interview through the lens of their own political beliefs," Jordan said Tuesday. "It's my opinion that the questions she asked of Joe Biden, in hindsight, turned out to be a precursor of the conversations that have been part of our political discussion the past year and a half. Hats off to Barbara for being on the cutting edge."

Two years ago, West told the Sentinel, "The thing that stuns me is that this has become about me."

After the Biden interview, West appeared on national programs, such as "The O'Reilly Factor" and " Larry King Live."

"It's not a good thing," West said then. "I am not trying to seek the limelight in any way. I did not do the interview to make headlines, but to get answers that people in the street want to know. When I'm doing fundraisers, I see vast numbers of people. My questions were reflective of what they're asking about."

Many people who disliked the interview noted that West is married to Wade West, who was a Republican strategist. At the time, West said her husband was no longer a strategist and instead ran a business that stages charity auctions.

West's chance to say goodbye would come on the noon newscast next Wednesday. Will she say goodbye?

"If she wants to," Jordan said. "For someone so well known and well liked, that would be the thing to do."

Jordan compared West's run at WFTV to that of longtime anchor Bob Opsahl. "There's something to be said for anchors who become fixtures in the community," Jordan said.